Apparatus foe producing gas



(No Model.)

A. A. FRITZ. APPARATUS FOR PRODUGING GAS.

Patented Dec. 15,1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ABRAHAM ANTHELME FRITZ, OE BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, ASSIGNOR TO JEAN GERARD VAN DEN ELSHOUT, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 464,963, dated December 15, 1891.

Application filed December 12, 1890. Serial No. 374,502- (No model.) Patented in Belgium April 29, 1889, No. 36,021; in England October 29, 1889, No. 17,140, anclin France October 29,1889.1To. 201,596.

Too/ll whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM ANTHELME FRITZ, a subjectof the King of Belgium, residing at Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,

have invented certain new and useful 1111- provements in Apparatus for Producing Inflamrnable Gas by the Oarburation of Air, (for which patents have been granted in Belgium April 29, 1889, No. 86,021; in France October 29, 1889, No. 201,596, and in Great Britain October 29, 1889, No; 17,140,) of which the following is a specification.

The principal objects of my present inven tion are, first, to provide simple, efficient, and

I 5 portable apparatus for economically producing a superior quality of combustible and explosive gas or gases suitable for both 'illuminating and gas-engine purposes; second,

to provide apparatus for the continuous produetion of gas in variable quantities, so that the supply of gas generatedis automatically increased or diminished and is equal at all times to the quantity of gas consumed in a gas-engine or in any other manner; third, to

z 5 provide apparatus for producing gas which may be easily installed and which in use requires comparatively little attention, whereby it is especially adapted for use in countryhouses and in generating gas for gas-engine 3o purposes, and, fourth, to provide self-com tained or compact apparatus for producing an inexpensive gas or gases equal in quality to the gas supplied by the large works employed for supplying towns and cities.

My invention consists in the hereinafterdescribed construct-ion and arrangement of apparatus for volatilizing hydrocarbon oils, 'as petroleum, fixing or superheating the resultant vapors, and then mixing the same 40 with the proper proportion of atmospheric air, in order to produce a permanent illuminatin g and explosive gas or gases.

My invention further consists in the hereinafter-described improvements in apparatus for automatically controlling the generation of the gas or gases, so that the supply will always equal the consumption thereof.

My invention further consists in the improvements in apparatus for producing gas,

hereinafter fully described, and particularly 5o pointed outin the claims.

The nature and objects of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description, taken in connection with I the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, and in which a Figure 1 is a vertical central section of a apparatus embodying features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of aportion of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail View, on an enlarged scale, of the pipe and connections for supplying gas from the receiver to the burners,

In the drawings, A is an exterior cylindrical casing, closed at the base thereof and supported upon feet or in any other convenient manner.

D is an interior cylindrical casing located within and attached to the casing A by means of a false bottom K, so as to form an annular 7o cylindrical space between the two casings, and adapted to retain a supply of water or other liquid.

0 is a gas-receiver located above the casing D, and having the depending rim or edge thereof extending into the annular space formed between the casings A and D, thus closing the upper portion of the cylinder D and forming a receptacle or gasometer for receiving and storing gas. The annular space formed between the cylinders A and D and the false bottom K is normally filled with water, so as to form a hydraulic gas-tight joint for preventing the escape or leakage of the gas from the gasometer. The water forming this hydraulic joint may be introduced in any convenient manner and .drawn off by means of a cock 4*, in order to repair the apparatus, or for any other purpose.

T and T are vertical pipes rigidly attached 0 to and supported'by the false bottom K and communicating with the interior of the gas receiver 0.

Q is a cross bar or frame located above the receiver 0 and attached to the pipes T and T, in order to support the distilling or vaporizing apparatus hereinafter fully described.

'l is a delivery-pipe attached to the side of the casing A, and serving, together with the pipe T, to support the purifier or scrubber P, with which communicate both the pipes T and T It may be remarked that the pipes or conduits T T T serve to support the other parts of the apparatus without the employment of frame-work, whereby a considerable reduction of the number of parts and of the space occupied by the apparatus is elfected.

The distilling apparatus is contained in two cylindrical casings and comprises a closed retort L, preferably of lentiform shape, communicating with a pipe a, terminating in a spiral coil S, forming a superheater.

B are gas-burners, preferably of the Bunsen type, located beneath the retort L and superheater S and adapted to externally heat the same. These burners B are mounted on branches of a supply-pipe p, communicating with the interior of the receiver 0, and having the lower extremity thereof outwardly flanged and attached to a casing E, sup-ported by arms 0, secured to the side wall of the cylinder D, so as to form an annular receptacle for containing a liquid, as oil, Fig. 3.

t is a pipe attached to the casing C and adapted to extend downward between the supply-pipe p and the sleeve E into the oil or other liquid, so as to form a gas-tight telescopic joint adapted to permit the receiver 0 to be raised or lowered, as required.

R is a tank adapted to contain a substance rich in volatile hydrocarbons-for example, crude or partially refined petroleum-and. placed at a height sufficient to insure the delivery of the liquid or substance to the vaporizing or distilling apparatus at the required pressure.

a is a pipe leading from the tank R and communicating with the interior of the retort L and with one extremity of the pipe 0,, forming the coil or superheater S.

a is a pipe communicating with the coil S and with the interior of the pipe T.

G are injectors, of any preferred construction, interposed in the pipe a between the coils and pipe T, and adapted to receive the vapors from the vaporizing apparatus and to mix the same with a supply of air or air and inflammable gas, as naphtha, and finally to inject the gaseous mixture into the receiver C.

The mode of operation of the abovede scribed apparatus is as follows: A supply of petroleum or other substance is permitted to flow in drops or fine streams from the tank B through the pipe a into the retort L,where it is volatilized by the heat imparted thereto from one of the burners B,and the resultant vapor passes from the retort L into the coil-pipe or superheater S, heated to a high temperature by one of the burners B and becomes still further volatilized and converted into a more or less permanent or fixed vapor. This permanent or fixed vapor then passes through the injector G, and, drawing in a supply of air through a suitable aperture in the side thereof, becomes thoroughly mixed with the air and constitutes an inexpensive, inflammable, and explosive gas adapted for use. This gas then passes through the pipe T and is discharged and stored in the receiver 0. The gas is conducted from the receiver 0 through the pipe T and is discharged at or near the bottom of the purifier or scrubber P. The gas then ascends through damp purifying material, as wet coke, contained in the scrubber P, and enters the pipe T from which it is discharged into suitable delivery-pipes. (Not shown.) Any impurities which may collect in the bottom of the purifier or scrubber P may be readily removed therefrom by means of a cock r, and any accumulation of liquid or fluid formed in the receiver 0 by the condensation of the gas contained therein may be detected by means of the window or peephole F and removed by means of the cock 0". In some cases it will be found necessary or desirable to enrich the gas before it is ad mitted into the receiver 0, and this result may be readily accomplished by employing two or more injectors G and connecting the inlets of one or more of them with a supply of naphtha or other suitable combustible vapor.

The generation of gas is automatically controlled and is regulated by the quantity thereof consumed in the following manner: Assuming that the quantity of gas utilized is for any reason increased, it will be obvious that the receiver O is permitted to move downward, and this movement of the receiver 0 causes a cook w, interposed in the pipe a through the actuation of a lever Z, to open said cock, so as to admit a greater quantity of the substance or material rich in hydrocarbons into the retort L, whereby the quantity of gas generated is increased. If the quantity of gas utilized is diminished, the receiver 0 is permitted toascend, and this movement of the receiver 0 causes the arm Z to close the cock 0:, thereby diminishing the quantity of hydrocarbon supplied to the retort L, and consequently curtailing the production of gas.

19 is a weight attached to the receiver 0, and adapted to cause the latter to descend with a positive motion whenever the supply of gas therein is diminished, thereby insuring the proper regulation of the cock at.

It may be remarked that in starting the apparatus for the production of gas for the first time it is necessary to heat the retort L for a short time by means of a spirit-lamp or in any other convenient manner, so that gas may be supplied to the burners B; but as soon as the production of gas has commenced these burners are fed with gas directly from the receiver C, and in most instances in use a sufficient supply of gas will remain in the receiver C to permit the apparatus to be started without the employment of a spirit-lamp.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains that modifications may be made in the details thereof without departing from the spirit of the same, and hence I do not limit myselt to the exact construction herein described; but

What I claim as new and of myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an apparatus for producing gas, the combination of a tank provided with an oildelivery pipe, a main casing, a receiver provided with inlet and outlet pipes, a purifier or scrubber communicating with and supported by the outlet-pipe of the receiver, a gas-delivery pipe communicating- With the purifier or scrubber and located between and attached to the scrubber or purifier and the main easing, a vaporizing apparatus communicating with the oil-delivery pipe and the inlet-pipe of the receiver and comprising a closed retort, a pipe communicating therewith and terminating in a superheating-coil, independent burners for heating said retort and coil, a branch pipe communicating with the receiver and with said burners, and injectors interposed between said coil and inlet-pipe, a cock in the oil-delivery pipe, and a lever connected With said receiver and cook, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In an apparatus for producing gas, the

combination of a casing, a receiver, an oil-sup ply tank, a vaporizing apparatus comprising a closed retort, a pipe communicating therewith and terminating in a superheating-coil, and independent burners for heating said retort and coil, an oil-supply pipe from said tank to said vaporizing apparatus, pipe connections between the superl'leating-coil and receiver, a gas-supply pipe provided With branches connected with said burners and extending into the interior of the receiver and having the lower extremity thereof flanged and attached to a sleeve supported by arms secu red to the interior of the casing, so as to form an annular receptacle for a liquid, and a pipe attached to the receiver and adapted to extend into said liquid, so as to form a telescopic joint, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

ABRAHAM ANTHELME FRITZ.

itnesses:

L. GILSAUD,

Rue de Brctbcmt, 138. E. JACOB,

Rue Gar-chant, 26. 

